


Sweet Dreams That Leave All Worries Behind You

by pinkevilbob



Series: Mama Nott AU [3]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 17:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20049838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkevilbob/pseuds/pinkevilbob
Summary: The newest member of the Mighty has trouble sleeping.





	Sweet Dreams That Leave All Worries Behind You

**Author's Note:**

> Continuing the Mama Nott AU because why not. You'll want to read the first one to understand this one. And this is my first time writing Beau's pov, so I hope this turns out good.

The first shift of nightwatch always sucked. Though to be fair so did the second and third shifts. Beau had hoped that Yasha would ask to be on watch with her, but instead Yasha was taking the next shift with Caduceus. So Beau was left there to be bored out of her brain by herself.

It was a quiet night. Calm and peaceful. If Beau had to stay up, the world could at least do something interesting. Not like a monster attacking them or anything, but like a cool bird or something. 

A soft groaning sound caught Beau’s ear. It was coming from the camp where the rest of the Mighty were sleeping. She tried to ignore it, but it kept getting louder. The sound of movement and someone thrashing about joined it. Finally, Beau went over to check it out. 

Caleb, Nott’s new son, was moaning and moving in his sleep, but not enough to disturb the sleeping Mighty. Beau shook his shoulder. “Hey.” She immediately had to duck away from his flailing arms.

“Take them out!!” he screamed. “Take-” Beau covered his mouth with her hand to avoid waking up the rest of the Mighty, but it was too late. The rest of their party woke up in varying degrees of panic. 

Nott already had pulled out her crossbow and was looking for who to shoot. “Who hurt my boy?!”

“It was just a nightmare,” Beau said rolling her eyes. “Stop pointing that at me.” She pushed the crossbow away.

Caleb’s eyes were wide and full of fear, but he seemed to be awake now. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I won’t do it again.”

“It’s alright,” Nott said. She took his hand and rubbed circles on the back of it with her thumb. “I’m here.”

Jester nodded. “Nott’s super cool and can totally keep you safe.”

But the tension in Caleb’s body did not ease. Instead he was still like a tightly wound spring ready to snap. 

“I’m going back to watch,” Beau said. When she moved, Caleb flinched violently, jerked his hand away from Nott, and covered his face with his hands. Everyone stared at Caleb.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. Go back to sleep. I’ll be quiet,” Caleb said still shaking like a leaf. “I won’t be any trouble.”

Jester leaned in close to Caleb’s face. Fjord tried to pull her back, but his tugs had no effect so Yasha stepped in and gently pushed Jester back.“You didn’t think that Beau was going to hit you, did you?”Jester asked. “Cause like she’s all scary looking and stuff, but she’s actually really sweet.”

Beau found herself blushing and frowned. “I’m not a big enough a-hole to hit you over a nightmare.”

“If she was, she’d be beating up Fjord all the time,” Nott said. “And even if she was, I wouldn’t let her get near you.” She lifted up her crossbow.

“Ja, I know,” Caleb said, but he didn’t sound convinced.

“They didn’t hit you at your school for just having nightmares, did they?” Jester asked. It was rare for Jester’s voice to hold such seriousness and weight to it.

Caleb shook his head. “They never hit me, but nightmares are a sign of weakness and my guardian needed his sleep. You need your sleep too. I can take the next watch. It’s my fault you’re losing sleep.” 

Nott’s grip tightened on her crossbow. “And you need your sleep too.” She had a strict rule that the teenaged members of their group didn’t take nightwatch shifts. Jester would sometimes pout about missing out on the fun, but the truth was she wasn’t missing out of anything.

“So if they didn’t hit you, what did your guardian do?” Beaus asked. The glances the rest gave her said they all had the same question.

“He just gave me the correction and guidance I needed. He was making me strong for the empire, for my home,” Caleb said. He stared at the ground refusing to look at any of them. “I needed to be strong for the empire.”

Jester bit her lip. “Then, why did you leave?”

He picked at some fuzz on his pant leg. “There was this older student. A halfling boy. He was worried about me. He gave me this.” Caleb pulled out an amulet from under his shirt. “Said it would protect me from being detected. Luc thought that, I don’t know, that I’d die or something if I stayed there. That Master Ikithon would just let me die in an experiment.”

Nott just stared at Caleb her eyes wide and her skin a sickly pale shade of green. Her crossbow hung weakly in her hands. "Experiment?"

"To make me, to make mages, stronger." Caleb rubbed at his arms. Jester and Cad had healed them up when Caleb first joined them. He seemed surprised that they were so willing to heal him. Dozens of little thin lines covered his arms. "I was weak so I need to be stronger. For the empire. Experiments take a long time to perfect. It was an honor to take part in them." It sounded rehearsed. Shivering, Caleb looked like he was going to be sick.

“That’s a load of bull,” Beau said rolling her eyes. Caleb stared up at her. “If they wanted you to be stronger then they should’ve just had you do push ups.”

“Stronger magically.” For a fifteen year-old twig, he had a knack for sounding like her exasperated old tutored. “Crystals can amplify magic, so it stands to reason that by inserting them into a person you can permanently boost that person’s magic. But none of the subjects could stand them for more than ten minutes.”

“What the f@$%?” Fjord said, and Beau had to agree with him. This was messed up.

Jester looked like she wanted to touch Caleb, but she held back. "Are you okay, Cayleb?"

Caleb let out a choked laugh that sounded like a cry. “I couldn’t even last seven minutes.”

"That's nothing to be ashamed of," Cad said his voice a soft rumble. "It's not your fault. None of this was."

"I am weak. I shouldn't have come here. If I was strong, I would've left with you in Zadash or reported you, but I did neither,” Caleb said.

"But you didn't have your amulet yet, so your old guardian could've totally found you," Jester pointed out. "And it's a good thing that you didn't report us cause that would've sucked."

Fjord nodded. "Have to agree with her there." Jester beamed up at him, and he looked away.

"You came to us in the end," Cad said.

"But that was all Luc's idea," Caleb said.

"What, what was Luc like?" Nott asked. There was a nervous energy to her now.

Caleb frowned. "He was a halfling. Close to your height. His hair was short as mine but messy and brown. Kinda a big nose." He paused and then brightened up a little. "Oh, I got a spell that can show him to you." Taking a bit of fleece out of pocket, Caleb casted a spell. In his hand, the image of a young halfling appeared. The halfling's skin was dark but a shade lighter than Beau's. Despite how short his hair was it still was out of place. 

Tears welled up in Nott's eyes. "Do you know his last name? Where he's from?"

"We never talked about where we're from. Master Ikithon discouraged that sort of thing." Caleb shifted uncomfortably. "But, his last name was Brenatto."

The tears spilled down Nott's face, and her hand went to her mouth. "Oh Caleb."

"What? What's the matter? Did you know him Mama?" Caleb asked.

“Yes, I knew him,” Nott said. “He’s your big brother.”

Jester gasped. "Caleb has a brother?!"

Beau rubbed her temples. “You have another secret kid. Of course, you do.”

"So are orphans another collection of yours?"

"It's not like that," Nott said. "It's more complicated than that. Where to start?" She took in a deep breath. "Hi, my name is Nott the Brave and I’m a little goblin girl. But once upon a time, I was Veth, a young halfling woman.”

**Author's Note:**

> Veth reveal!
> 
> So I was expecting to do just a one-shot but this became a series. I might do a fic about Jester and Fjord next.


End file.
